One Second Chance
by sylphstarwind
Summary: The Mojave's a fascinating place, filled with wonderful and wacky people such as: The savage fox. The self-hating sniper. The motherly mutant. And the courier who finds that there are consequences for every single choice. Chapter One: Meet Vulpes Inculta.
1. The Feast of the Crows

**One Second Chance**

Description: The wasteland is a fascinating place, filled with wonderful and wacky people, such as... The savage fox. The self-hating sniper. The motherly mutant. And the courier who finds that surviving a bullet to the brain is easy compared to choosing the right path, especially when there is no such thing. Make a good choice, a bad choice, or no choice at all, and you still pay the price.

A/N: I'm going to pick and choose the events/missions that I cover or don't. Some things don't need anything added, and some things just aren't all that interesting to begin with. Another thing, there will definitely be some romance in the story, but I'm going to do my best not to push into that right away, so if you're looking for a quick fix, you should probably look elsewhere. That being said, the main romantic interest will be Craig Boone, while Vulpes Inculta will also play a role. Other minor encounters may also be included.

Disclaimer: I do not own the any of the intellectual property in the Fallout: New Vegas video game, and make no claims on the characters, locations, situations, etc. that are presented therein. I do not profit from the writing and posting of this fan fiction.

* * *

**Chapter One - The Feast of the Crows  
**

Oh, the regrets. She'd had less than a week to accumulate them - at least ones she could remember - and she'd somehow managed to rack up so many.

Involving those townspeople in a gunfight - and ending up with casualties? That was one. Traveling through the desert at night was another - that hissing dog thing had nearly sunk its huge, dripping fangs into her. And coming here, that'd clearly been a _big_ mistake. Like an idiot, she'd taken a look at Hell and then walked right in.

Now, this. She'd been too cheap to even _try_ to get a better weapon, yet she'd been wandering around alone. So she was currently standing here like a cornered rat, holding a gun that was meant to kill...well, rats. Worse, death incarnate was walking towards her.

She'd only been back a few days and she was going to die, again. How unfair was that?

He seemed to be a dangerous animal like any other, and she was sure he'd have that air about him even if he wasn't wearing the skin from a predator's head like a hat. But he wasn't an unruly beast, ready to lunge at any moment - more like a powerful feline that knew precisely how and when to strike. It didn't help that he had a bunch of friends with him. She had the feeling that no amount of shooting skill or strategy on her part would get her through alive if she had to fight here and now. She wasn't even near cover.

Well, she wasn't going to end up like the poor bastards that were strung up around town. If it came down to it, she'd off herself first. Thinking this, her hand slid down to the hilt of her knife while her other hand continued to grip the varmint rifle. The strangely-garbed man didn't let the movement slip by his attention, although he seemed to misinterpret it.

"Showing our fangs, are we? But you needn't worry. You aren't going to share the fate of these...degenerates." His voice made her tense, a shiver wanting to go through her body. Not because it was overtly threatening - quite the opposite, really. He spoke softly, easily. He could've been chatting with a passerby about the weather, even though he was surrounded by fire and corpses. It was obvious he could really care less about her life or any of these others.

She tried to speak, but she found that her throat was too dry and her chest too tight. She swallowed, sucked in a shallow breath. "That so?"

"It is. Someone needs to spread the message, and you're as good a candidate as any. By showing you're willing to fight, you've already proven yourself more worthy of living than any of these useless creatures. And you don't appear to be an NCR dog. That always improves your chances of survival."

"First bit of good luck I've had in a while, I guess." Maybe not entirely true - she did recently survive a shot to the head, or so she was told. Then again, she'd been _shot _in the _head_. Never mind. "So, what kind of message are we sending?" Something about fear, if the feeling almost paralyzing her was any sign.

"It's quite simple. You need to spread the word of Nipton's fate - don't spare any details. I'm sure the NCR would like to know all about what's happened here. Some of them might even realize how doomed they are once they hear." This statement was accompanied by a cold little smile.

"I...don't understand." She swallowed, berating herself for saying anything besides "Yes, sir" when her every nerve screamed danger. But now she had to continue, lest he think she was too stupid to pass on his message, making her useless to him after all. "I mean, you just...murdered these people to teach the NCR?"

A derisive sniff. "I've no more murdered than an executioner murders when he carries out a just punishment. These people were wallowing in their own moral filth; their own lives had become forfeit the moment they decided to sell the lives of their guests for a meager fee. There is no issue of whether or not they could be redeemed, either. Parents who watch their children be dragged away while they merely pray for their own safety deserve far worse than what we've inflicted. These people had no loyalty, no values. They lived as animals and they were slaughtered as such."

The Courier put a hand over her mouth, though she wasn't sure what exactly was the most appalling bit. Yes, the brutality carried out here was hard to stomach, but was it true that Nipton's residents had done nothing to protect one another? That they'd betrayed whoever had been staying here, just for some caps?

"Maybe they really did deserve what they got," she murmured. Yeah, right. And who was she to judge? Who knew what she'd done before taking that headshot?

But the man seemed pleased with the response. He shared another smile with her, this one just as devoid of warmth as the last. "I'm glad you understand. Perhaps you will one day prove yourself truly worthy of the Legion's attention, and our paths will cross again. Until then, 'Vale'."

The pale stranger turned and headed out of town, his cronies on his heels with their heads swerving this way and that, the pack being on the lookout for enemies while the leader stared confidently ahead. The woman he left alive could only stand there until he was out of sight. Then she finally let her knees give.

.o.

Ghost just stared grimly as the Courier explained her findings. Though in her way, the Ranger had shown she was worried about the town, she had not been expecting a direct Legion attack. The news was disconcerting for both of them.

"Just watch yourself out there," the albino sniper said after a brief silence. "This means the Legion is moving in faster and harder than we thought. And they might not let you off so easy next time, especially if they happen to catch you talking friendly with our troops."

The Courier smiled weakly. "Uh, yeah. I don't plan on running into them again if I can help it." She still hadn't completely shaken off that feeling of impending death, after all.

**.o End o.**


	2. All Kinds of Crazy

**One Second Chance**

A/N: This is being written to be entertaining for those who have played New Vegas, so I'm going to bounce around some. Also, I might take some slight liberties with certain details. I'll keep it to an absolute minimum, but some things aren't exactly explained in the game or they're just kinda illogical. I don't want to jump through a bunch of hoops to try to make sense of what the game presents, especially if it's just a minor occurrence.

Also. I'm thinking I'll give the Courier a name somewhere down the road, but for now, she's still nameless. Probably won't bother much with her appearance at all, but I might fill out some of her past. Still thinking of what it should be and how it'll fit into things.

Finally, thanks so much to everyone who's R&Red. It's been a really excellent batch of reviews, and while I definitely enjoy the writing process and the final product, I can't claim it makes no difference to me whether I get good reviews, bad reviews, or no reviews. I wouldn't be writing and _posting _this story if I didn't care about people reading and giving neat feedback. Right now, I'm very happy :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the any of the intellectual property in the Fallout: New Vegas video game, and make no claims on the characters, locations, situations, etc. that are presented therein. I do not profit from the writing and posting of this fan fiction.

* * *

**Chapter Two - All Kinds of Crazy  
**

It felt like things were right in the world again. Well, at least as much as they could be when you'd been shot and left for dead, and you'd seen a town full of crucified, burned, and mangled people, and almost gotten killed by a pack of self-righteous psychos with a costume fetish.

Ah, but she wasn't going to let any of that shit get to her now. She knew where she was going, she knew what she was doing, and best of all, she had combat armor and a pretty decent gun that _could_ kill a man if need be. It was nice to have some backup, too.

She didn't know if she had some natural talent for tinkering, or if she was just on a lucky streak lately. Either way, randomly messing around inside that robot's guts had somehow worked. The thing occasionally buzzed loudly or emitted sparks, but hey, maybe that was normal. She could pretend, anyway.

"Beep boop beep beep whirrr bzzt beep," chirped the robot.

"You said it, Eddie," the Courier replied. "But I get the feeling Slim Primm wouldn't have caught very many bad guys. And the people in that town didn't seem to have a knack for technology - look at the shape you were in until I showed up. So if he'd been shot up by a bunch of hooligans, Slim might've been down for the count."

"Beeeep beep."

"Yeah, and you're biased. The NCR will do fine. Better than an ex-prisoner or a decrepit casino robot, anyway. How about we drop it and listen to the radio for a while?"

"Beep boop."

In all honesty, the woman had no clue what the eyebot was trying to say or if he even understood her when she rambled at him. But so far, he was the closest thing she had to a buddy. Sure, the folks in Good Springs had saved her life, and the guys and girls at the Mojave Outpost were friendly enough for the most part. And Johnson Nash had passed along a discount, some food, and a first aid kit in gratitude after law had been restored to Primm. But none of those people would've accompanied her out here - not that she would've asked them to. ED-E, on the other hand, had started following 'round her the moment she'd fixed him. It was the first she'd spent much time with a single person - if you could count him as one - and she had plenty of things she wanted to get off her chest. In fact, she couldn't seem to stop talking now. So for his sake, she hoped he either didn't mind or was incapable of actually caring. Otherwise, it might be a very long trip for the little fella.

* * *

It wasn't long after nightfall when the traveler reached her next stop. The place didn't look like much, and certainly wasn't pretty, unless you really had a thing for dinosaurs. She figured half the people who came through didn't even know what a dinosaur was - but regardless, the giant reptile certainly dominated the landscape.

There weren't many citizens out and about, and most who were around looked like people just passing through, like herself. There was only one man sitting around who looked like he lived here. Here on the street, maybe, but someone who belonged, anyway. He was staring at her with a clear expression of suspicion on his face, so she didn't stop to talk. She rather wanted to get a place to settle in for the night, anyway. She entered the main office of the town's hotel.

"Well, hello there! Welcome to Novac, home of Dinky the Dinosaur!" came the cringe-worthy greeting.

* * *

The Courier looked around the shabby room, with its water-stained bedspread and crusty sink. It wasn't as nice as the Doc's place in Good Springs, but it was sure better than lying down somewhere out in the desert again. More importantly, it would keep her junk fairly safe while she looked around town or slept. She couldn't ask for much more.

Her things were laid out on the bed. While she was in town, she didn't think she needed to walk around with her armor on. Not unless she decided to take on a risky job, anyway. Which she might do, since she was still nearly broke. The prices you paid for some half-decent equipment... But it was worth it. She kept her new service rifle slung on her back, just in case, and a pistol on her thigh. A couple of stimpacks in her pocket, and she figured she was set.

She headed back out with ED-E in tow, locking the door behind her. She wanted to find out about what was going on and figure out where her almost-killer had gone, and decided she would rather give that homeless man a try than go back and talk to the hotel's owner. Jeannie May seemed nice enough, but that only made the Courier feel bad for thinking the woman was creepy as hell. There was something really off about her. It made the traveler feel kinda sick just listening to the innkeeper's voice, and all the stuff about Novac being such a wonderful town? Apparently the lady was kinda delusional, too. Possibly obsessive.

No-Bark Noonan, as the man turned out to be called, wasn't much better. He was standing alone with his eyes on the wall when the Courier approached.

"Come no closer. I got nothin' to say to you," he said.

She stopped a few feet away. "Why? We haven't even spoken yet...have we?" As she said this, she realized it wasn't impossible for him to know her when she didn't recognize him. The thought made her insides squirm. Maybe she had wronged him at some point in her life. Her previous life.

"Not yet. It's just a matter of time. I know what yer after, and you can't have it. Them others tried to get it out of me, but you'll never best ol' No-Bark!"

The woman was oddly relieved. Apparently he was a bit nuts, which wouldn't normally be a good thing, but in her case it meant she hadn't done anything to him.

"No, no, you've got it all wrong," she said soothingly. "I'm not here to get anything out of you. In fact, I think those guys who bothered you are the ones I'm after. I'll take care of them for you."

He turned away from the wall and looked at her. His eyes narrowed a little. "Hmmm. I don't trust you - don't trust nobody. But maybe yer right. Maybe yer not the one I'm expectin'."

"Right. So can you just tell me - did you see a man in a checkered suit come through here? Maybe with a couple of thugs?"

"Oh yeah, I know the ones."

"You do? Well, where'd they go? Did they say anything?"

"_Aliens_."

"...Beg pardon?"

* * *

Man, was she tired of getting the runaround. And just plain tired, come to think of it. That loony old man had talked for a good while about the state of things in town, the state of the world, the state of his skull - that is, full of holes and radscorp poison, apparently - and had thrown in a bunch of unrelated nonsense for good measure. He'd paid no mind as the moon kept rising. Yet all she'd gotten out of the seemingly never-ending conversation was that her man had been here, and had talked to a sniper in the big dino's mouth. A sniper with a mustache. Pretty specific, but then, No-Bark was pretty crazy. It wasn't like he couldn't get elaborate with things that had never really happened.

She decided she'd check out this supposed lead, then get to sleeping. She'd had a long day, and the musty bed in her motel room was calling to her. She heaved a sigh as she climbed the last few steps inside Dinky. And wondered if her life had always been so glamorous.

Pushing open the door, she heard movement on the other side. She was greeted with a scowl and an irritated shout.

"Goddammit! Don't sneak up on me like that! Who the hell are you?" the stranger asked. The eyes behind his big shades were cold and distant; his eyebrows were all sharp angles. She had the feeling he was the type with a permafrown. And his body was hard, tense, showing some pent-up aggression, as though he could pull that rifle on her at any moment.

"Little jumpy?" she asked, stepping aside as ED-E entered the small space next to her. The man turned his glare on the bot for a moment, but showed no reaction as he focused on her again. She went on, shrugging. "I guess that's understandable, if you're the sniper. You're normally watching for threats way out there, not right behind you, huh?"

"You saying you're a threat?" he asked. God, what a miserable bastard. He seemed to be spitting the words at her, like he couldn't wait for her to be out of his sight. Even those legionaries had seemed more cuddly. By far.

"No, I just meant... Never mind." She realized then that this man didn't have a mustache, meaning she'd come up here for no reason. She sighed again.

"I asked who you are," the man growled. "And why are you up here?"

"I'm wondering about both of those, myself. There another sniper in town? One with a mustache, by chance?"

Shit, had she thought he looked mean before? She'd been way off the mark. That had been the face of a coyote pup compared to the deathclaw glare coming her way. The expression passed quickly, leaving behind a cool mask, and his voice was dismissive when he responded.

"If you have business with Vargas, then I definitely don't need to be dealing with you. I suggest you leave. Try coming back after nine AM."

_Talking like he owns the place, _she thought, getting seriously annoyed now. She didn't deserve to be spoken to like this by a guy she'd just met. "Yeah, the thing about that. When someone tries to throw orders my way, my first instinct is to disobey. You know what I mean?" Maybe just to irritate the guy more, she made like she was going to have a nice, long stay up here. She yawned, leaned back against the door frame and stretched her arms over her head, her whole body curving and flexing before relaxing.

"No."

"Hm. It doesn't piss you off when someone tries to tell you what to do?"

"Wouldn't have exactly worked out in the military."

Her eyes drifted to that red hat. She'd never seen one like it, but it had a neat patch on it. Plus, the NCR did seem fond of giving special people random hats, rather than helmets which might actually deflect blows. Look at all the Rangers she'd come across, wearing those goofy-looking things as though their heads were made of steel. Guess that meant this guy was good at kicking ass, or something?

She looked back into his eyes, or rather, at his dark lenses. "Well then, what authority do you have to tell me to leave? Does the NCR think this dinosaur's mouth is an important strategic point?" She felt like she was pushing her luck now, but hey, she seemed to have a surplus of that lately. Besides, she was getting a little buddy-buddy with the NCR - maybe enough to smartmouth one of their fancy snipers without getting into too much trouble. Really though, she couldn't stop herself even if she thought this was a terrible idea. She'd found a jerk to bug the crap out of.

The sniper crossed his arms, his face almost too blank, like he was trying to play it cool. "I'm not with the NCR anymore. But I'm trying to keep an eye out here, and you're a distraction. If you're going to get in the way of me doing my job..." He let the sentence hang.

"Oh, yes. I wouldn't want to keep you from killing the Legion soldiers who're just scrambling to take this place over. Sure, I'll leave you alone. Best of luck with your crucial work." She turned, deciding that trying to talk to this man was not only pointless, but masochistic. She didn't need a hostility treatment - she was sure to continue running into that sort of thing without actively seeking it.

"Wait."

She kept her hand on the knob and didn't turn around. "Contradicting yourself now? You must _really_ love giving orders if you're that desperate to keep at it."

A sigh. It struck her as weary, or perhaps regretful, though that may have been her imagination again. She looked over her shoulder at him. He was silent, seeming to scrutinize her.

"Well?" she said, her tone a tad less harsh than before.

"There might be something you can help me with. You're not from around here, right? You don't have connections to any of these people."

She grimaced. "You're not going to ask me to kill someone, are you?" His face didn't give the littlest twitch to her half-serious guess. She really had a bad feeling now.

"Not...exactly."

**.o End o.**


	3. Escalation

**One Second Chance**

Disclaimer: I do not own the any of the intellectual property in the Fallout: New Vegas video game, and make no claims on the characters, locations, situations, etc. that are presented therein. I do not profit from the writing and posting of this fan fiction.

A/N: Sorry for the delay! But you know the deal with holidays - busy, busy. Plus, I wanted to check some facts before I put this out, but my brother was hogging the 360 the entire time he was here on pre-deployment leave. I let him have his way while he still could.

* * *

**Chapter Three - Escalation  
**

The newcomer swore and turned around to face the sniper. Her eyes searched his face - he wasn't just a guy with no manners to her now. He might be dangerous, or dangerous to be around. "Just so you know," she said after a moment, "I'm not really into killing innocent people for money or anything. Maybe I somehow gave you that impression."

"Believe me, I won't ask you to hurt anyone _innocent_," Boone spat, though more at whoever he was talking about than at her. "This person has to be the worst kind of scum."

She bit her lip. "Sure. Everyone seems to think they know who deserves to die and who doesn't."

The sniper stared at her, briefly wondering if there was any special meaning behind that. Then the moment passed and all he was left with was impatience. "You wanna hear what I have to say, or what?"

"Fine. Fire away," she said with a scowl.

He opened his mouth, then shut it, hesitating. Man, it'd been a while since he'd talked to anyone about this. After he'd realized no one was going to tell him anything, he'd pretty much quit talking, period. It kinda hurt to think about it all over again, let alone speak about it.

He took a deep breath. "My wife was taken by Legion slavers," he started. "And I know someone in town set it up. The slavers came at night, so I was here, on watch. Watching out there, not at my home. They took a route that kept me or anyone else from seeing them, and," his voice grew strained, "_they only took Carla_."

He could see her expression change immediately, and he hated it. Hated this. Hated having to tell a stranger what had happened to his wife, even with the major omissions. But strangers were all he had left. Strangers and enemies. She was safer _because _she was new, an unknown. It was the people he'd known, trusted, and protected that he had to worry about now...even Manny. _Especially_ Manny.

He wished things were different. Yeah, he did his best not to think about it at all; if he ran through his daily motions like a machine, he could usually keep from feeling anything. But things were bound to get through sometimes. He was still a human, after all. He never could escape the memories and regrets.

In one night, he'd lost everything. You'd think it was enough, losing his wife and unborn child. But then he'd lost Manny, too. Or Manny had lost him. Their friendship had been over the moment Boone had mentioned what had happened. The bastard had been _happy_, and his half-assed attempt at hiding it didn't count for shit. After that, Boone had been unable to look at the other sniper without feeling some serious ugliness rising up inside. And he couldn't do a damn thing about it - any of it. If he couldn't trust Manny, then that went double for everyone else in town. At least one person was lying, and it was hard to figure out who when everyone else was either oblivious or tight-lipped.

So maybe this was what he'd been waiting for. Maybe this woman would finally help him end this. There was a risk, yeah - he might be wrong about her. She might start talking as soon as she walked through that door, telling everyone that he knew. Tell them that he knew the truth, and planned to put someone in the ground for it. But he didn't think so. She seemed sincere, real. The anger, the fear, the sympathy - all of it was right there on her face, in her body language. And she had a strength to her. She couldn't be NCR, but she seemed like a soldier nonetheless. It was like she'd seen the world's harshness and had been been changed, given a different perspective. He hoped it would let her understand the situation without getting scared off.

Either way, one thing was for sure. She wasn't like the people in this town, and that was as good a start as he could hope for.

"Fuck," she said, her voice softer now. "Do you know where I should start looking? Anyone seem more suspicious than the rest, or give you any kind of hint?"

He considered it like he'd done so many times before. He hated to think Manny was in on it, and he could've sworn that the surprise had been genuine when he'd revealed the news. But the guy had such a strong motive. No on in town had hated Carla as much as Manny had.

"That sniper you were looking for? His name's Manny Vargas, and he's up here during the day, nine to nine. I'd check him out. Don't really think it's him, but he's got the most reason to have...done something."

"Okay," the woman said. "I'll start with that. There's just one thing I don't get. What about your wife? If she's out there, a slave, then shouldn't-"

"No," he bit out, more harshly than maybe he should've. "My wife is dead. That's a fact. All I can do is avenge her by nailing the son of a bitch who sold her."

She just looked at him silently for a minute, and he mentally dared her to keep prodding. Instead, she straightened and nodded. "I'll see what I can find."

"You do that. And you probably shouldn't come talk to me again until it's over. Don't want people to know there's anything going on. You can't trust anyone here, understand? But if you find the son of a bitch, and you're sure, then walk him out in front of the nest here and put this on." Boone pulled his beret off and held it out to her. He ignored the fact that he felt a little naked without it.

"Got it," she said, taking the hat, feeling the quickly-dissipating warmth of it in her hand. _Funny how such a small thing can make a person look so different,_ she reflected as she looked at the sniper. She smiled a little, wondering how she was already forming her image of this man when she didn't even know his name.

"Once you find him, you let me take care of the rest. I need to do this myself," he added.

"Wouldn't dream of taking your revenge from you," she said, her voice going all soft again. "I'll go take care of things. But first - since we're kind of working together now, could you do me the courtesy of telling me your name?"

He looked away, then shrugged. "There isn't much point, but yeah, if you wanna know. Just call me Boone."

"Alright. I'll see you later, Boone," she said. She opened the door and made to leave, waiting for her weird floating bot to pass through first.

"Hold on. You talk about courtesy, then just walk out after I tell you my name?"

She paused, confused, then grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. Now I tell you _my_ name." She shrugged, too. "I'm just a delivery girl. Call me what you want."

"That's it?" he asked, but she was already going down the steps, the door swinging shut behind her. She hadn't even asked about her payment.

* * *

Manny seemed like a real decent guy, and his good attitude and openness were even more pleasing following her experience with Boone. He was rough around the edges, true, but she would have been more suspicious if he hadn't been. He would've seemed fake like that Jeannie May weirdo. Anyway, she didn't care to judge him based on his past.

"So you didn't have _anything_ to do with Carla's disappearance?" she asked. She was showing her cards a little here, which could be trouble if Manny turned out to be involved. But she liked him enough that she wanted to just be straight with him if she had the choice. She'd swear him to secrecy later so Boone didn't find out about her trusting in and siding with this man.

"Hard to believe, right? I'm definitely grateful about it happening, but I have no idea how it all went down. Seems like Boone feels different, though."

She grimaced. "Yeah. Well, I don't know. Kinda. He sounded pretty unsure about it being you, but you were still his best guess. And uh, want a piece of advice?"

His brow creased. "Shoot," he said hesitantly.

"If your best friend's wife gets kidnapped and made a Legion slave, then gets killed, it's probably a very bad idea to give any sort of hint that you're happy about it."

Manny just looked at her, his mouth opening and closing a few times without making any sound. "Shit. I figured Boone was wrong, and she'd just finally run off on him. Or maybe I was just hoping. I guess even _she_ might not've deserved what she got."

The Courier snorted in mirthless laughter. "Christ, you must've really hated her if you're not sure about that."

He let out a bitter little bark in return. "Hell yeah. She was the reason I worried every day after we settled in here. I was waiting for her to push Boone into leaving, maybe threaten to divorce him or some shit. I think I was wrong, though. I think she actually loved him and wanted him to be happy. She might've stuck around for good."

"I'm pretty sure he trusted in her. That's all I can go on, really. And whatever she was like, I think we gotta do what we can for both of them - it isn't right what happened to her and it isn't right that Boone was made to suffer like this."

"Yeah, I guess," Manny replied, looking conflicted. "Maybe it'll help me to fix things with Boone, anyway. He hasn't talked to me in weeks."

She wondered if this guy was really that clueless. Seriously, was there any kind of mystery in Boone ignoring him? "He's pissed about your reaction when he told you, and it seems like all he can see right now is revenge, so he isn't interested in patching things up. I think you gotta be the one to make the move. You know, say sorry."

"Yeah, I figured. I wish I'd known how serious it was. I hated Carla's guts, but that wasn't what Boone needed from me when she disappeared. Maybe if I handled things better, we'd be dealing with this together now. He wouldn't have had to go to a stranger. No offense." The man's shoulders lifted and dropped as he raised his chin. "No point in bitching about it, though. I'll do what I can to help you, maybe set things right. And afterward, I'll do like you say. I just hope it's not too little, too late. I probably should've gotten over myself and done it a while ago."

She shook her head. "Might not've made any difference. He doesn't seem like the talk-things-out type, anyway."

The ex-Great Khan laughed, this time with good humor. "Yeah. He's got a damn thick head, plus he hates talking about his problems."

"He'd rather just solve them with a bullet, seems like. Taking out whoever did this will resolve a hell of a lot more than talking will...but before he can do anything, I have to find the bastard. That's why I'm here. You have any bright ideas?"

"Sorry, but I got nothin'. Pretty much everyone said a thing or two against her when the two of 'em weren't around. I asked around a little, to see who's hand I should be shaking, but nobody was talking."

"You talked to everyone about this?" she asked.

The sniper paused to think about it. "Nah, just Andy and Cliff and Jeannie May. The McBrides hardly leave their house, and No-Bark... He's just kinda gone, if you hadn't noticed."

The topic of No-Bark reminded her of why she'd originally wanted to talk to Manny. "I talked to him and he was out there, alright," she chuckled. "But he mentioned you. Said you were talking to some guys I'm interested in finding."

He tilted his head at the change in topic. "Only guys I've talked to lately are... Huh. What do you want with them?" As far as she could tell, he was merely curious, but it was hard to read his tone. Maybe he was holding his tongue for the moment, seeing what she'd say. She wondered how much to tell him.

"I'm mostly just concerned with the guy in the weird suit, since it seems like he was in charge. He has a lot to answer for."

"I'll bet. He seemed like the type. Jessup better have a backup plan to take a job with him."

"Yeah," she said. She didn't know about Jessup, nor the Great Khans in general, but she hoped they were through with that bastard before she caught up to him. It'd make things easier for everyone.

Manny waited for her to say more than the one word, but that was all she gave. "Okay. Tell you what. Once this thing with Boone is taken care of, we'll talk about my friends and the guy in the suit. I might have to ask something in return, though."

The Courier smiled ruefully. "Aren't I already helping you by helping Boone with his revenge? He probably won't talk to you one way or the other until it's taken care of, you know. Until I find who did this and bring him to justice."

The man scratched the side of his neck, looking a little apologetic. "You've got a point. But see, this town's got more problems than just one dead bitch- er, woman. I'd take care of this thing myself, but Novac's got light enough defenses as it is. So, maybe I won't necessarily charge you for my info, but I gotta tell you, we really-"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," she interrupted, waving her hands. "I was just hassling you. I shouldn't say yes before I know what you're talking about, but I don't want to leave you guys hanging, either. Just give me the details later." She went to the door of Manny's room, thinking of her next step as she went. She looked back. "Well, guess I'll just have to question everyone I can, starting with No-Bark. Where can I find 'em all?"

* * *

That nutter had done it again. Somehow, in the middle of his inane and insane ramblings, he'd included a golden nugget of truth. As a result, the Courier had the evidence in hand.

Now, if only she could get her legs to move. If only she could keep herself from crumpling up, or burning up, this horrible piece of paper which spoke of a woman and child like they were _cattle_. And if only she still had faith in the plan.

"What. The. Fuck." Her voice was a quiet snarl in the darkened lobby. She had to stand there and take a deep breath, try to think of what to do now. Because the situation had changed - or at least her view of it had. She was no longer sure she would be content to lead the culprit out in front of Dinky. A death like that would be too goddamn easy; a bullet was far too kind. Jeannie May would have to go through three lifetimes of suffering just to begin to pay for what she'd done.

The young woman sighed. She supposed it was best to stick to Boone's instructions. This was about what he wanted, after all - not her. And what could she do to make Jeannie May get more of what she deserved? Torture her? Shoot her kneecaps and let her scream a while before finishing her? The Courier didn't know what she used to do for a living, but at the moment, she didn't think she had the stomach to get into any real sadistic shit. The anger could only carry her so far before the rest caught up to her. Besides, she didn't want to actually get caught carrying out this vigilante justice. The quicker and cleaner the kill, the better. Never mind that it did nothing for her satisfaction.

She stepped out of the building and went to Jeannie May's room. Standing in front of the door, she looked around for witnesses and then paused, trying to compose herself. She couldn't risk Crawford catching on - she'd have to be careful and avoid showing even a glimpse of the rage and disgust that made her want to stomp on the bitch's face. She felt a calm descending over her as she shut down her emotions and adopted a pleasant enough expression. Finally, she gave the door a few firm knocks.

The mayor answered before long, still in the same clothes of the day, holding a drink in her hand. She peered out blearily. Her eyes ran over the Courier's face, flicked to the eyebot, then back to the the Courier. There was no sign of suspicion, just a little confusion and annoyance. "Oh, you're the girl staying at the hotel. The one 'just passing through'. What can I do for you, and at this hour?"

The traveler was struck by how benign this woman seemed at the moment. How vulnerable. Even without using a gun, she felt like she could kill the mayor here and now. And yet, this woman had done something so incredibly foul. She had apparently decided that two human lives and one man's happiness were worth some caps, or a 'better' town, or some shit. Or maybe she was trying to improve relations with Caesar's Legion, since they were supposedly a threat to Novac - not that cutting this kind of deal seemed to help, given what had happened in Nipton - and in her view, it was worth sacrificing a couple of innocent people to secure the town's safety.

It didn't matter. Not one of those reasons was the least bit adequate; not one would keep Jeannie May Crawford from dying tonight.

**.o End o.**


	4. The Only Constant

**One Second Chance**

Disclaimer: I do not own the any of the intellectual property in the Fallout: New Vegas video game, and make no claims on the characters, locations, situations, etc. that are presented therein. I do not profit from the writing and posting of this fan fiction.

A/N: I feel like the last chapter was a bit too heavy and dramatic. I miiight go back and change it, idk. Thoughts? And mostly I'm talking about where Boone is thinking about all the stuff with Manny and Carla and everything, and to a lesser extent, the Courier's reaction to what Jeannie May had done.

Thanks to all my readers and my reviewers. And if anyone's reading but not reviewing, I would really appreciate even a one sentence review from you (though more is almost always better!), just so I can get a better idea of how many people are actually interested in this story. Unless I really just have three readers lol, which is okay, too.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four - The Only Constant  
**

It was all he could do to stand still and do his job. All this watching, all this waiting, and now the time had come. Or was coming. Maybe. Hopefully. Shit, it would make all the difference in the world just to know for sure right now.

Was the stranger going to succeed, or was she going to fail? How long would she take? Was she going to betray him?

He was far past the point of caring about what happened to him if she turned him in, and damn, at least that would end things. But that wasn't what he needed to be thinking about now. He needed to focus on this - the one thing he had left. His last mission, assigned to himself, by himself. One for Carla.

When the time came, he didn't feel what he'd expected to feel. There was no rush, no sense of impending absolution. He was calm. He was ready.

Same as always.

* * *

The Courier was all raw nerves as they headed out of town. Thoughts were stampeding through her head - stupid thoughts that she tried hard to get rid of. She wondered if she was safe, standing out here next to a soon-to-be dead woman. What if Boone missed? Well, fuck, he was a sniper. He was first recon, whatever that was - something elite, surely. He was not going to fucking miss and kill someone who was just standing near his target.

Unless...she was also his target. Unless, he wanted to get rid of witnesses...

_Oh, shut up_, she thought, smiling weakly to herself. If it was someone else she was thinking of, maybe that would be a serious concern. But not with Boone. True, she hardly knew him. She hadn't even had a clear look at his eyes. She had no real reason to trust him. And yet, deep down, she _did _trust him. He was screwed up and cold and mean, and he was about to be a murderer if he wasn't already one, but there was a reason behind it all. She kinda understood how he felt, at least in a general sense. She knew what it was like to have nothing going for you except for revenge.

"Now, what's this all about?" Jeannie May asked.

The dumb broad had come out here with virtually no questions asked. The traveler could only wonder at the complacency. Did the mayor have no guilt? Had she forgotten so easily? And was she so smug, so confident in her crime against her fellow woman that she trusted some stranger to lead her out in front of the sniper's nest where _her victim's husband_ was standing with a rifle?

The Courier had to know. Red flags were popping up in her mind that this was a Bad Idea, one that could ruin everything, but she still had to say _something_.

She stopped once they reached their destination. Turned around, pulling the beret out of her pants' cargo pocket as she did. She held it at her side for the moment.

"Was it good for you? Or was it just about the caps?" she asked neutrally.

The mayor's eyes went to that hat, and there was immediate recognition, quickly followed by understanding. And acceptance. And, God, some pitiful emotion. Sadness? Regret? Relief?

"No," she said, her voice hardly above a whisper. "No, none of that. The town. Don't you see? I did it for the town. The Legion-"

She stopped talking as part of her brain exited through the right side of her head. It was a neat shot. Perfect. She was dead in an instant, and her body was on the ground a moment later.

The Courier stood looking down at the corpse, her body frozen to the spot. Her mind was likewise frozen. Once she was able to move both again, she went to him.

* * *

It was a good thing Cliff had already gone home. She felt like he would know - like the whole town would know, if they only looked at her. And she really had no clue how she would react if she had to deal with anyone right now. She might well be unable to stop herself from blurting out, "We killed her. She was sorry, but we killed her."

She met Boone on the stairs inside Dinky. The sniper was coming down, maybe to clean up the mess. She didn't really care about that.

"You asshole," she hissed, standing in his way. "Why didn't you wait for the signal?"

"You took it out - that was enough. Can I have it back?"

She looked down at her hand, which was clenching the beret. She didn't hold it out and just looked at him again. "You said to put the hat on. I hadn't done that yet. I was talking to her."

"Not my problem. I needed her dead. There was no point in you talking to her, especially if it was going to make you change your mind." She stared at him without responding, so he went on. "You feeling guilty or something? Wondering if what she was going to say something that would make this okay for you? Don't. Just fucking don't. As long as you had the right person, you don't..." His eyebrows went up; his mouth hardened. "You were sure it was her, right?"

She looked down at the steps. Pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket. "Yeah."

He scanned the bill of sale, his eyes catching on certain key words. When he was done, he exhaled harshly. He was silent for a few seconds. Then he said, "You'd have to be an idiot to read this and still regret what you did."

The Courier jerked her head up and scowled at him. "Oh, she deserved it alright. But that doesn't mean killing her should have been meaningless or easy. I'm not like that, okay?"

"And I am?" came the quiet, bitter reply. It was his turn to avoid eye contact. He reached for what was his, his gaze going right past her. "It had to be done. That's all."

"Okay. Fine. So now what?"

"Meaning?"

She made an impatient sound. "You know," she said. "Is there going to be trouble? How's this going to effect things? What will you do now that you've had your revenge? All that kinda stuff."

His eyes narrowed behind his shades, like she'd crossed some line. Maybe he didn't like her speaking so comfortably about the revenge part - that'd be her best bet. "Probably not. Dunno. And none of your business," he replied.

"Really? That's all you've got to say to me now? Ouch! I feel so used," she mock-whined. But she shrugged dismissively. Now that she thought about it, she realized she shouldn't have expected anything more out of him.

So she wasn't expecting it when he sighed and elaborated, sounding like he was speaking to a temperamental child. "I really don't know. Hadn't thought past this point. I can't stay here, that's all I know. I can't stand this place, and the only thing that was keeping me here is done now. Don't really have anywhere I wanna go, though."

She wondered if that was how it would be for her once she found the man in the checkered suit. No attachments, no home, no purpose. She hoped not. It sounded damn depressing.

"How about reenlisting?" she suggested. "It looks like the NCR needs all the help they can get. The guys I've seen so far are shit-scared about the Legion activity lately. And, they're right to be. I...I was in Nipton right around the time it was converted into a giant graveyard."

Boone's eyebrows rose a hair. "Hadn't heard about that. Shit. It's even worse than I thought." He paused. "But...I'm done with the NCR. I'll work on my own."

The Courier slowly shook her head, chuckling humorlessly. "Yeah. Good luck with that. If I happen by when you're up on a cross, I'll either let you down, or pop you one and put you out of your misery. All depending on how long you've been there, of course." She smirked, waiting for an argument or explanation that didn't come. His perfectly serious expression wasn't changing, either. She lost the smirk. "God, you mean it, don't you? Look, I don't doubt your abilities. I'm pretty sure you can give 'em a little hell and still make it out alive. But even snipers normally work in twos, right? Do you really think you're gonna accomplish anything in the long run, besides getting yourself killed? They are the fucking Legion. They are the many. Even if you don't get caught, the damage you'll do won't add up to much."

"You're probably right. But going back to the NCR just isn't an option, and taking out a few legionaries is better than nothing. I'll take what I can get."

She pictured him out there, alone, wandering. Picking off a couple of legionaries here and there. And then...him getting killed as he took on a few too many. It didn't seem like it'd be that far into the future, either.

She couldn't accept that outcome.

"How about I do you one better, then?" she said, going for nonchalance. "Come with Eddie n' me. I'd say me running into the Legion and surviving means I have better credentials than most, and we'll all have a better chance if we stick together." Once the words had rushed out of her, she felt self-conscious, like she was just a bit too desperate for companionship. She believed what she said, though, and she certainly would've liked more support when the episode in Nipton had happened. And when she'd been shot.

He just looked at her for a while, worsening the feeling of transparency and making her want to fidget. When he did speak, he spoke hesitantly. "That's not a good idea. You'll regret it if you work with me."

But she wasn't so much deterred by his words as she was relieved by how he spoke - he really seemed to be thinking about it. She smiled reassuringly. "Sorry, but you lost me. Care to explain for the slow people?"

"...Guess you could say I'm bad luck. This isn't going to end well."

She laughed in surprise. "I didn't have you pegged as the superstitious type. Well, I think I'm good luck, so it all balances out anyway. I mean, I took a bullet to the head, y'know, and I lived."

"Brain damage isn't the most convincing argument you could've made," he commented with a grunt.

She raised her right hand, middle finger extended. "Psh. We all got our issues, don't we? And anyway, I don't _really_ need to persuade you. You already know I'm right. You know that we can get more done together than we can individually. If you want really want to hurt the Legion, or serve out justice or whatever, then you know what you have to do. You gotta come with me."

"Yeah. I just don't think you understand what this'll mean."

"Damn straight, I don't. But I learn better when I'm shown, not told. So let's do this and see where it takes us."

**.o End o.**


	5. I Saw Sparks

**One Second Chance**

A/N: Sooo I accidentally deleted this chapter and had to rewrite it. It's definitely different from before, though it still had to fit between chapters four and six (both of which were already written at the point of rewriting) and I guess that's all that matters –ish.

**Chapter Five - I Saw Sparks**

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm way too wired to go to bed now," the Courier said, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck.

"Might not be a good idea anyway, considering what we just did," the sniper pointed out. He didn't sound at all concerned about it himself, but his companion felt a prickle of dread.

"Shit, yeah. I forgot about that. Should we get out of town? But wait, there's work to be done here, and I need money..." She didn't add that she had promised to help the town with whatever problem Manny was worried about, feeling fairly certain that Boone wouldn't be enthused about any of it. He was through with the place, and that went double for his former friend. She wasn't so keen to stick around anymore, either, but a promise was a promise... Damn, she needed to quit being so impulsive. She couldn't get by on luck alone forever. And she was never going to get revenge on the sneaky bastard in the suit, nor could she help the NCR against the Legion, if she got her stupid self arrested or something for killing a mayor.

"You 'forgot' that you just helped me kill somebody? Weren't you saying traveling with you would _improve_ my chances of survival?" Boone said dryly.

She squinted at the man behind the shades. Was he being an asshole for laughs, or was he seriously beginning to doubt his choice? She could not tell in the least. After a moment, she shrugged.

"Uh, do you think a rabbit's foot needs a brain to do _its_ job?" she retorted.

"Am I supposed to know what the hell that is?" came the reply. Definite impatience, now.

She frowned, realizing she had no clue where that phrase had come from. "Guess not, 'cause I don't know, either." She rubbed one side of her forehead, sensing a headache coming on. She let go of her train of thought and took a deep breath. "Whatever. Point is...no, wait, just give me a sec." She sat down on the steps where they both stood, still inside Dinky the Dinosaur while Crawford's corpse cooled in the desert air just outside.

Boone grunted, watching her but not questioning. Then he started down the steps again. "I'm going to go clean up before we have a bigger problem on our hands." With that, he was gone.

The headache was already forgotten, but the woman had some thinking to do. The first question was, stay or go? She did not like the idea of being here in the morning when someone realized Jeannie May was missing and began to ask around. She wasn't the best at lying, or rather, she just hated to do it, always hesitating to do so and possibly arousing suspicion just by pausing or squirming when asked certain questions. But she didn't think the truth was going to go over so well, even if the bill of sale was acceptable proof. She was an outsider. You could say Boone was, too, even though he lived here. He had kept to himself, maybe even hated everyone else in town, and shown it. For the pair to say, "hey, this bitch sold slaves so we killed her", that probably wasn't going to solve all their problems. And anyway, murder was murder. Novac seemed to strive for some form of civility, so they might not take kindly to vigilantism. It was just going to get messy.

On the other hand, the Courier had little choice but to stay, at least long enough to do what Manny needed done. She needed his intel to make progress with her revenge.

She looked down at her Pipboy for the time. Middle of the goddamn night was what time it was. She was used to keeping weird hours, but she doubted Manny was the same way. He had to be here at nine every day. Thinking, she rose and descended through the dinosaur before going to look for Boone.

As she exited Dinky's artificially-lit carcass, she looked off toward the empty wastes, the moon casting everything in a combination of overly-bright surfaces and pure, black shadows. It was easy enough to spot Boone walking with a woman slung over his shoulder. That was scary in itself. She hustled over.

He'd gotten a shovel from somewhere. But only one.

"Hey, uh, lemme help?" she said without much hope.

"What, you want to take turns?" he asked, still looking directly ahead with just occasional glances to the sides.

"Sure. I mean, if you're gonna get tired..." She sort of trailed off. Yeah, like a guy like him would admit to something like that. Even assuming it was true.

"Okay."

She had sort of been hoping he would say no, to be honest. Seemed like he could handle it and she had other things she wanted to do. Perhaps she was a bit...lazy.

"Okay," she said, trying to sound neutral. She smiled a little, feeling absurd.

But it wasn't so bad, being surprised once in a while.

* * *

"We're definitely taking a nap after this," the courier said.

"Is that safe?" Boone asked, not sounding particularly concerned.

The "doctor" looked at the two of them and shrugged. "I don't think it's too risky." They sat beside the brahmin pen, the majority of the beasts still milling about and making a ruckus. They didn't seem to like the strange corpse that was now fully visible on the ground nearby. The creature wore something on its head, and the Courier had some idea that the device was what had granted invisibility. However, she wasn't concerned with that right now.

"What the hell kind of answer is that?" she demanded.

"It means you only have a _mild_ concussion, and the risk of bleeding in your brain isn't too high. Just, give it an hour or two, and take it easy."

"Can do." She took it as a sign that she should go see their mutual "friend" about a job. Even if Boone wasn't going to be happy with her, and maybe not Manny, either. She would get something done while she was supposed to stay awake. She held onto the fencepost and lifted herself to her feet, nice and slow. Boone watched but didn't move.

"Right. Just give me my fee and I'll leave you to...," she glanced at the thing that had been stalking tonight. "...whatever you do at this godforsaken hour."

The Courier sniffed and reached into one of her deeper pockets, coming out with a fistful of caps. "Thanks, Doc. Your bedside manner is simply the best."

"You got an ouchie on your head, congratu-fucking-lations. And just come to me if it gets worse, if your vision blurs or you black out or whatever." Straus glanced at Boone as if to say, _you watch for that shit, too_. He actually nodded, though nothing on his face changed.

"Phew," the other woman sighed, leaning on the fence. Much as she wished Straus would at least seem like she was competent, the courier liked the doctor otherwise. And at least none of the injuries had been serious. Sore head, banged up elbow, etc. from being knocked into and pushed over.

She felt she had gotten by on luck again.

She had engaged the freakish humanoid up close while Boone stood back and did his thing. And what a thing he'd done - shot a hole straight through that weird, tiny cap that the creature had worn, then put another hole through the forehead for good measure. But not quite fast enough. The thing had been invisible, just like No-Bark had said.

* * *

_It only became visible when it started firing on the herd, taking a couple animals down before the Courier could reach it. She had to get in close and stay there - she would be completely and utterly fucked if she got shot by that weapon. The stench of blood and guts and death now in the air attested to that._

_As she got within several feet of the assailant, she opened fire with her pistol, continuing to move as she did so. She hit the creature's midsection, but the bullets seemed to be doing far less damage than they should've. Well, what could you expect when fighting a giant, roaring mutant?  
_

_She was just a couple feet away now. The creature swung the minigun in a wide, dipping arc toward her, but she dodged and ran around its exposed side, shooting more rounds into its gut until she clicked empty._

_A whole magazine and all it seemed to do was piss the thing off._

_She backed off a little, ducking as the brute spun around and swung the gun at her again. She pulled out the empty mag, jammed it into one of her larger pockets, and pulled out a fresh set of ouch-makers. At this point, the mutant was howling its head off. She doubted if it was a howl of pain. Probably wasn't used to being evaded by its prey._

_As the monster threw aside its minigun, deciding it would kill her with its bare hands, she lifted her puny weapon and aimed for the head. She got off a couple wild shots before both her arms were grabbed by one massive hand. Just then, there were two loud reports from somewhere behind her. Her face was greeted by hot, chunky fluid, which she quickly blinked away to see the two new holes in the nightkin's head._

_She had a split-second to feel relieved before realizing she was falling. So was the brute, which had let go and fallen away from her. The Courier fell onto her back, her lower spine hitting the ground first before her torso straightened and the rest of her succumbed to gravity. Her head, along with her feet, smacked into the ground._

"Hnnf!" she cried, the sound forced out of her along with all her air. Patches of blackness trespassed on her vision, flickering, before she went ahead and blanked out.

* * *

She was grateful she'd gone and donned her armor again before taking on the McBride job. What hurt like a bitch now, causing her to hobble a little as they headed to Manny's, could've been worse.

"Look, here's the story," she said as they entered the courtyard of the motel. "I have one more thing I have to do before we leave. One more person to help."

Boone looked at her briefly, frowning. Suspicious.

"Uh." The woman looked back at him and smiled crookedly. "There's some kind of issue with the town's defenses. Even more now that you'll be leaving. Don't want the town to get overrun after you spent so long watching over it, now do ya?"

As she expected, the sniper didn't look overcome with emotion. He shrugged. "Guess not."

"Riiight. So, we're going to see what we can do to help, _then_ we can get the hell out of here." They'd stopped in front of Manny's door, and so far so good. Boone's face was hard, mask-like, but she had expected as much. She knocked.

They could hear someone moving around inside for a minute, then the door opened. The ex-Khan opened the door a little to look out at them, then flung it wide.

"H-heyyy," he said. He smiled a little, looking from Boone to the Courier and back again, very quickly, before his eyes settled on the female. His smile had become rigid once he'd seem his friend's face.

"Hi. We, uh," _took care of the thing_, she almost said. She stopped herself because she wanted the best chance she could get to walk out of this town, not be chased or locked up. She didn't think Manny would turn them in or anything, but she couldn't assume too much. So she continued, "We're here about the job you need done."

"Great." The man couldn't help glancing at his fellow sniper again. It must've been something just to have Boone be willing to stand there in his presence. Manny seemed to feel that was enough, and got right to the point, not asking about what had happened with Carla, or why the two were working together now.

"There have been ghouls coming out of the REPCONN test site, getting closer and closer to town. So far, I've been able to pick them all off before they get close, but more come every day."

Boone nodded. "I've seen some of them, too." He didn't look anywhere in particular, but Manny brightened a little, all the same.

"Yeah. I think we have a nest of them on our hands. I don't know if the smart ones decided to move in there, or if it's a pack of ferals that stumbled on the place, and I don't care. We need them gone."

"So as long as they're gone, you don't care how this is handled, right?" the Courier asked. It was always best to be perfectly clear when doing this kind of work.

"Exactly. I'm no zombie-lover, but if you think they don't _have_ to die..." Manny shrugged. "Whatever's easiest, I guess."

"Alright. We'll see what we can do and report back to you when it's done." She looked right into his eyes meaningfully before turning away. Her companion went to follow.

"Boone, hey," Manny called out quickly. Boone paused but the ex-Khan didn't, trying to get it all out at once. "I just want you to know, I- I'm sorry, man. I was an idiot. I-" Was jealous? No, he couldn't say that. "It never should've gone down that way. I...I was so wrong."

"Yeah. You were." There was still some bitterness in the other man's voice, which stung. But it seemed a little less than it was before. Manny managed to feel comforted even as Boone walked away and didn't look back.


	6. Fiery Pits of My Skull

**One Second Chance**

Disclaimer: I do not own the any of the intellectual property in the Fallout: New Vegas video game, and make no claims on the characters, locations, situations, etc. that are presented therein. I do not profit from the writing and posting of this fan fiction.

A/N: Wow, well over a year! Sorry guys. Updating was more than just sitting down and writing - I had to reread this fic and probably play some of the game again so I could figure out where I was at. But now I've reread and revised the previous chapters (tried to smooth out pacing here and there, or just add a little more description) and I'll try and get this going again.

* * *

**Chapter Six - Fiery Pits of My Skull  
**

The Courier kicked off her shoes and flopped right into her bed, then immediately regretted the latter action as pain tore through her body and particularly her head. She cursed for a good ten seconds, her volume rising and rising, until she was cut off by an enraged banging on her wall.

"Shut the fuck up!" came a voice from one room over.

"Go eat a turd!" she squeaked, more startled by the concept of having neighbors than anything. She felt a sense of longing pass through her - was this something that had been important to her? Settling down, having a place that was all her own, that sort of stuff? Well then, she was shit out of luck, wasn't she? She sure as hell wasn't going to settle down when the Republic was on the brink of war.

She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, her mind clearing. It was so nice to just lie down. And despite the unruly mix of self-satisfaction and horror that battled beneath her skin every time she thought of Crawford's death, she was actually pretty happy with how things had gone down here. She felt...like the good guy. The Mrs. Fix-it of everybody's shitty lives.

But the best feeling of all? Getting Boone to join up with her. She thought she might've saved a life, or had at least given herself a chance to do just that. And she was very glad for the support - along with ED-E, they felt like a complete team now. Hey, maybe with a little time, she could become a force to be reckoned with. The Legion didn't really know about her existence, even though she definitely saw herself becoming their enemy eventually - assuming she survived long enough to do much of anything. And though some of the NCR troops looked on her favorably nowadays, most still thought of her as some dumbass civilian who was just itching to run off and get herself killed. All this meant she was more likely to be kept out of anything important - anything besides the sissy errand running and pest killing jobs that she'd mostly been getting.

It occurred to her that she was planning on doing something that that coyote-headed man had mentioned, and she shivered, literally feeling like the room's temperature had suddenly dropped thirty degrees. He had said something about becoming worthy of the Legion's attention. He had also mentioned meeting again under those circumstances.

_I think I'll pass_, she thought. Though she had to admit, that guy was especially...intriguing. It was like he was an alien, or a monster. Something inhuman, anyway. Boone was complex and confusing, sometimes surprising, but he was still perfectly human. To have a good talk with the legionary, to get inside his head, even just a little... It seemed like a rare opportunity.

Of course, it was entirely too dangerous - plain old fucking stupid, really - to go seeking that frosty madman out. She didn't understand him, couldn't predict his reactions, so the next time, she might say the wrong thing and go bye-bye right then and there.

Bottom line - that particular legionary was probably the last person on earth she should ever trust.

* * *

Caesar's lead Frumentarius walked among his enemies without fear, as was expected of one in his position and vocation. It always brought him great satisfaction to see some pitiful NCR dogs wandering aimlessly in their ramshackle camp and waiting to die at the hands of the Legion. Of course, he had to be quite careful not to let his feelings show on his face. He may have been in military uniform, but his visage was not hidden - no one would ever recognize it, and he planned to keep it that way. He had to look as downtrodden as everyone else in Forlorn Hope or else one of these dimwitted meatbags might begin to wonder.

Today, he was here only to observe. He wanted, needed, to see firsthand how the loss of Camp Searchlight and especially the decimation of Nipton was affecting the NCR troops elsewhere. He had taken his time carefully depicting the future of every man, woman or child that stood against the Legion and its tenets. Nipton proved that it was not enough to merely remain neutral. Soon enough, all would obey Caesar. All would follow the Legion's ways.

Vulpes supposed the message might have been more clear if a Republic soldier had first come upon Nipton, not some woman who appeared to be confused about which side was which. However, he had no regrets. Regrets were a waste of time, and besides, the encounter had been more interesting than expected. The woman had been afraid, but she had not been a coward. She had been confused, but her mind had still been working - so unlike the usual array of squealing animals he saw when he came across civilians. And she hadn't instantly drawn herself up like some knight of justice upon seeing the carnage, as some 'brave' but still thoughtless NCR troopers were apt to do. If only she had been the correct gender, she might've made an excellent recruit, one fit to one day walk among the leaders of Caesar's army. That's assuming she could handle herself in a fight. If not, then...maybe she was already dead. The Mojave had many flavors of death for the weak and unworthy.

* * *

_What the hell am I doing__?_ the sniper wondered to himself, sitting at the edge of the bed and staring around at the room he had shared with his only love. He had to leave, he knew that much. For the sake of his sanity and his purpose. But with this...this girl? This stranger who had bitched him out for killing the mayor that sold her own citizens, who had tried to made him listen to Manny's useless bullshit, who looked at him with both pity and admiration? He hadn't known her for a day, and he'd already felt the urge to pop her one. More than one.

And yet... Yes, he'd do it. He'd leave with her. Because who else was going to come along? Who else, unaffiliated with either of the two armies, could endure the hazards of the Mojave and would also happen to stop by Novac? If he had to, he'd find someone else to travel with once he was on the road. For now, he'd stick with the one who had gotten him moving again. Whatever else she'd done, she'd found and delivered the one he'd wanted. She'd given him what he'd been searching for, waiting for, for so long.

They had a long day ahead. He settled down to sleep, expecting the usual - hours of lying awake, thinking about things he didn't want to think about, before finally passing out. To his surprise, he started drifting off almost immediately. That, too, he could thank the girl for.

* * *

When the Courier woke, it was well past noon and her whole body ached. That, she didn't care about. It was her exploding head that was really bothering her. Sitting up, she felt like she might barf and rather wished she would just pass out instead. She had to wait a minute before attempting the standing thing. That went marginally better, but goddamn, she felt like she was about to start bleeding out the ears.

"Whoa...," she gurgled miserably. She couldn't work like this. Hell, she couldn't sit here and do nothing like this. She wobbled over to her bag and grabbed a Med-X. Injecting herself with sweet, sweet chems, she carefully laid herself back down on her bed and put her arm over her face. The headache raged from all the movement, but began to settle down before long.

After about five minutes, she risked getting up. It was still quite an unpleasant experience, but she figured she'd get ready, go get Boone, and see if the chem did its trick by the time they got going. She didn't plan to lie in bed all day.

She washed up some, the cold water on her face and neck helping with the headache. Then, moving slowly, she donned her clothing and armor, pocketed stims and another Med-X, and armed herself. By the time she got out the door, ED-E's buzzing was barely reverberating through her head, and the sun only stabbed at her eyes a little.

**.o End o.**

I know, not much dialogue or action, but I liked getting everyone's viewpoint and status before starting back on the questing. I hope to update soon and get going on the REPCONN or Boulder City thing.


End file.
